1. Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of the application of decorative coatings to small articles, such as pencils and other writing implements.
2. Brief Description of the Background Art
Cylindrical articles, such as pencils, to which the present invention applies, have been coated with decorative coatings by methods such as, dipping, spraying, and by forcing the articles through a pot of coating liquid and squeegeeing off excess liquid, followed by a drying or curing step. See, for example; U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,622, which also discloses use of multiple coatings to achieve a desired decorative or tactile objective. Application of decorative glitter to an irregular object by a method including vibrating the object is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,422. And deposition of glitter on cylindrical writing instruments by an electro-flocking process involving application of an electrostatic voltage between the writing instrument and the glitter dispenser is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,245.
The instant application discloses a novel, economical method of producing a cylindrical article, such as a pencil, with a decorative glitter coating.
In the herein disclosed process, glitter is applied to a succession of cylindrical articles by forcing them through a pot of clear lacquer, squeegeeing the coating to a desired thickness, and then immediately passing the article through a pot of glitter. The articles then pass through a vacuum tube, which removes the excess glitter for reuse. The glitter particles swirling in the tube also tend to adhere to any areas of exposed lacquer. The articles are then dropped onto a conveyor that is long enough to permit them to dry before being collected for curing and subsequent processing. The glitter-coated articles are then forced through a pot of clear lacquer and a squeegeeing grommet for application of one or more seal coats. This process can be automated quite economically.